Yeasts and fluconazole susceptibility in the Philippines

Identification and fluconazole susceptibility of 579 yeasts isolated from patients in 16 medical centers throughout the Philippines in 1997-98 is reported. Speciation revealed the following distribution of yeasts (with percent occurrence): Candida albicans (49.6%); C. parapsilosis (17.2%); C. tropicalis (14.9%); C. glabrata (6.2%); C. pelliculosa (4.3%); C. krusei (2.4%); C. guilliermondii (1.9%); Trichosporon cutaneum (1.7%); Cryptococcus neoformans (0.9%); Candida famata (0.5%); C. lusitaniae (0.2%) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (0.2%). Using an agar disk diffusion assay for fluconazole susceptibility it was determined that 94% of the isolates were susceptible, 5% dose-dependent susceptible and only 1% resistant. All isolates of C. albicans were susceptible (one being dose dependent sensitive) to fluconazole. The only yeasts resistant to fluconazole were: C. guillermondii (1 isolate), C. glabrata (3 isolates) and C. parapsilosis (1 isolate).